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Takeda CEO Hits Back at Dissident Shareholders

Yasuchika Hasegawa Argues New President Most Appropriate to Lead Drugmaker

By

Kana Inagaki

June 27, 2014 6:48 a.m. ET

OSAKA, Japan—The chief executive of Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. on Friday defended his plan to appoint a foreigner as president, saying the move was necessary for global growth.

Two months ago, a group of more than 100 shareholders and former employees wrote to the board of Japan's biggest drug maker, decrying the ascension of a non-Japanese, Christophe Weber, to the top position of Takeda as akin to "hijacking by foreign...